Beshear Says Redistricting Session Could Come in the Fall

Gov. Steve Beshear said a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly to redraw legislative districts for the House and Senate is likely to happen this fall. He said details are still being worked out.

“I’m talking with legislative leaders in the House and Senate right now and I think everybody, if we can work it out, would probably like to do it in the fall,” Beshear said. “And let everybody have the summer while kids are out of school and they have some vacation time, and then wait until we get back in school before we have the special session.”

Beshear said he doesn’t want redistricting hanging over the legislature when it begins drafting a new budget in 2014 and added that he hopes the special session would not last more than five days.

However, State Rep. John Will Stacy said it will be difficult for lawmakers to agree on new House and Senate districts in less than a week. The Democrat from Morgan County serves on the State Government Committee, which has to make a new plan for the House.

Stacy said redrawing the map could be more difficult if the Senate contests population figures from the House plan.

“I think there is some question on the Senate side about some of the population figures that the House used,” he said. “I think our population figures are absolutely correct. We’re not doing anything that hasn’t been done in other states, but they may wish to question those figures.”

Stacy said it’s likely the House and Senate will draw separate proposals and then approve each other’s plans.